By Laudia Sawer
Tema, Oct. 26, GNA-The Datus Complex Schools, have celebrated its maiden Founder’s Day as part of its 60th anniversary to honour its founder for his contributions to private school education in Ghana.
The Datus Founder’s Day, to be celebrated annually in October is dubbed R. A. Dowetin’s Day, after its founder who was also known as Togbi Kwaku Amenyodu I, Ngoryiyi-Fia of the Agbozume-Somey Traditional Area in the Volta Region.
Mr Francis Dowetin, Director of Datus, giving a brief history of the school, said Datus started in an improvised classroom at Bubiashie in Accra with 12 pupils, and two teachers on June 12, 1962.
The school now has four branches at Kasoa, Tema, Dansoman and Bubiashie.
The Director said the founder was also the founding father of the Ghana National Association of Private Schools (GNAPS), which he headed as the president for 20 years.
Mrs Bernice Ofori, Tema Metropolitan Director of Education, in a goodwill message read on her behalf, congratulated the management, staff, and pupils of the school for sustaining the legacy of the founder.
Mrs Ofori said, “the idea to establish a school to train individuals to beef up the human resource base of Ghana was a laudable idea.
“The school continues to provide the needed platform for the attainment of high quality and holistic education at the pre-tertiary level in several fields.”
She reiterated the point that education was the most powerful weapon, which could change the world and several pupils trained by Datus and their eminence in society deserved to be celebrated.
Mrs Ofori gave the assurance that the Education Directorate would continue to support the school in its endeavours and explore ways of strengthening the already existing cordial relationship between them.
Nii Charbukwei III, Anyaa Mantse, together with other old pupils of the school recounted their days in the school by encouraging the current pupils to take their studies seriously and adhere to all school rules to shape them into responsible people in society.
Meanwhile, the celebration was also used to launch an endowment fund dubbed ‘60 @ 60’ to support needy pupils.
Professor Emmanuel Osei Akyeampong, Chairperson for Datus at 60, said a total of 60 needy pupils would be selected from the four branches of the school and catered for by the school for the next three years to reflect the philanthropic nature of their founder.
GNA